Salvatore Sorice

If, like me, you've had instances of your strategically placed Windows Desktop Icons getting moved/reordered/messed up this utility (DesktopOK) is great. You run it, capture your icon layout and close it. Doesn't have to stay running in background. You can then relaunch and restore your icon layout in one click. You can also store multiple layouts if desired. https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/desktopok.html

I’m a big fan of the Kensington trackball mouse. Love that it saves space (since you don’t have to move it like a regular mouse). Also has lots of click options that you can program. Kensington track ball mouse

Must be something I'm doing wrong (most likely scenario :^)... Not sure why it only happens sometimes, but if I have a project open, save/close it, then exit Sonar (red X, upper right), I get this dialog - even though there is no "Project4" open as far as I can tell, and I don't recall doing anything other than opening the Project I was working on.

I think it's waaay faster and more reliable than Windows indexing. It also has a lot of useful filtering options, etc. - and it does not have to be always running. You can fire it up as needed and it updates its database in seconds.

Hi Max. Not at my PC, but think it can run as a service and index in background or you can just run it as needed. The database updates really quick when you fire up the utility. Has lots of options for what to index, exclude etc.

I’ve been using WizTree forever. It’s great. I also recommend adding Everything by voidtools to your toolbox. Finds files instantly. It’s amazing. https://www.voidtools.com/

Best of luck! Hoping all will be fine.

Thanks @bitflipper - appreciate the comment. I think I'm going to try and add a bit of loudness to the WAVs - the reason being that, while some services (like Apple) will turn you up, others (like YouTube) will not, so some of the pieces might be way to quiet on those platforms.

Thanks for all the input! I'm using the web version to test the WAV files from 2 Classical Piano CDs I recorded (in 2010 and 2014). Not sure if the plugin would be any different or just more convenient. Either way, it looks like my Classical WAVs need to be turned up quite a bit to get in the ballpark of 0.00 or thereabouts. I know Classical is way different than other genres when it comes to dynamic range. Some of my piano pieces go from a whisper to a thunder (example: Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C sharp minor Op 3 No 2) - that's just the nature of the beast. Hoping this tool will help me get them to a respectable (and musical) level for Spotify, YouTube, etc.

@Old Joad - song sounds great! Did you use the plugin, or just test your song using their website tool? Also - how did you achieve the synced lyrics? Are you using Distrokid or another service?

I'm going to (finally) start uploading my music. Using Distrokid. Going to start with Classical Piano pieces that I've recorded over the years. The Classical Piano pieces were recorded by a professional engineer (onsite at my home, on my Steinway Model B grand). He also mastered them and I had CDs made. I am planning to upload the WAV files to Distrokid but, as a complete newbie to all of this, want to be sure the loudness levels are good (and appropriate for classical music, given the inherent dynamic range). I tested a few of the WAVs at https://www.loudnesspenalty.com/ Some are good and others look like they'll get turned up by some (like Apple Music). But other sites (like YouTube, Amazon), don't seem to turn anything up - only down, so it seems like some pieces will be really quiet on some outlets. Example (note - the ones with -- above the name (like YouTube) don't turn up, only down): The folks behind the site also have a dedicated plugin that seems like it would be more convenient to use: https://www.meterplugs.com/loudness-penalty Questions: > Has anyone used the plugin. If so, opinions? > Any other plugins, etc. that you think might be as good / better to get this kind of information / insight? Thanks!

Thanks @Glenn Stanton, hopefully @Noel Borthwick can let us know if it’s possible and under consideration!

Just giving this a bump... hoping there is enough interest that the Bakers will consider it. 🙏

That means UcantJAM

^^This. I remember watching a good tutorial on this. I’ll try and find it and post link but you should be able find it with a YouTube search.

Looks interesting. Will give it a go since I have and like some of their other stuff - especially their Guitar VSTs (since I'm a keyboard player!).

Question: How do you make a small fortune in Music? Answer: Start off with a large fortune.